Changes
by KingCobra582
Summary: Demona has repented, and now she and Ethan must convince the Clan to reaccept her. Can they succeed? Only time will tell. Please read and review! Future chapters on this story will depend on it! *CHAPTER 7 NOW UP AT LONG LAST*
1. Demona Wants Back In

A Time To Decide  
By King Cobra3 (kingcobra49036@yahoo.com)  
  
CHAPTER 1 - Demona Wants Back In.  
  
Author's Note: This fic is a first person view story, told from the perspective of Demona.  
  
My name is Demona. I'm a female gargoyle, one whose mistake long ago cost me my true love, and my future daughter. I have spent the last ten centuries becoming a viable threat to man, as I well desired. It was humans who desecrated my clan. It was the humans who threatened my life not once, but countless times over the millennia. The injustices I have so unfairly suffered have turned me into an evil thing, some dark decrepit being who lived her life in the throes of madness.   
  
I see now that all my actions were spawned by my own insanity, my own twisted jealousy that spent a thousand years nurturing itself. It was my own hatred that cost me everything I loved, not the folly of the humans.   
  
But I have not always seen this. And my conversion was only a short time ago.  
  
In fact, if it were not for the love that I have received from a human male, I might never have renewed my old life at all.  
  
But I have my love, and he has me, and it will be forever, unlike the other failed relationships I myself have ruined.  
  
And now, my mate, Ethan, sat next to me, listening and observing as I told my tale to my daughter Angela. I disclosed to her the reasons for my recent change, as well as why I felt I deserved a place to start anew in Goliath's clan. Angela had reacted exactly as I knew she would, with jubilation and hesitation combined in her voice and her facial expression. Angela had reluctantly answered that Goliath and the others would never allow me to rejoin them for all the wrong I have committed.   
  
"My daughter, you know I have changed for the better," I responded with a warm smile.  
  
She looked to the floor and said nothing. Ethan grabbed my arm gently.  
  
"Maybe we should give her time to discuss it with the others," he urged, only slightly forceful. I agreed.  
  
Without hesitation, and only the slightest evident sense of fear, Angela hugged me and flew off, no doubt to confront her father and my first love concerning me, and to try to convince the others of my repentance. If luck and fate were on my side, she could convince them to welcome me back. Unfortunately, life has shown me that things that I cannot control will probably not work out the way I want it to. Especially after everything that has come down between them and me. Why would they even consider accepting me?  
  
Especially the two that would be most likely to oppose the idea. Goliath and Brooklyn.   
  
Broadway didn't care for me too much either. I knew that. But he loved my daughter, which left him open to persuasion. Lexington was Broadway's best friend, next to Brooklyn, and would have difficulty backing up his friend's decision or rejecting me. But I knew him well enough. In the end, he would cave, siding with Broadway and Angela. Currently, that would make the tally three in favor, and two against.   
  
But I mustn't forget about Maza. The policewoman would side with Goliath, as would Hudson, most likely. Bronx would also join them. But he couldn't talk, so the canine gargoyle did not apply. That would make the vote four against me, three for me. My chances were not good.  
  
Were they?   
  
Suddenly it occurred to me. I made a friend out of Ethan. Why shouldn't I patch things up with Maza, get her on my side? That would shift the balance slightly. I decided to make the attempt. Though again, after my history with her, she would probably shoot me first and ask questions later. So I opted for the subtle approach.   
  
I would buy her a new car as a peace offering. That red auto she always drove was an eyesore anyway. Perhaps the human would appreciate a new vehicular mode of transportation. I decided to use some of the Nightstone funding to replace the Fiat. Sure, it would perhaps be embezzling, but it was MY company. And, anyway, what would the humans do, arrest the woman who couldn't be tracked down at night? Utterly laughable.   
  
I chuckled in an hearty manner, full of good humor from the introspective thought as I glided to the Gargoyles' castle.   
  
As I swooped down on the courtyard, the wind leaving the vessels of my wings, I gazed around. The courtyard seemed completely vacant, and the castle appeared lifeless. Where was everyone? Were they on patrol, scouring the humans' city for potential wrong-doers? It was a candid possibility.  
  
Deciding to return later, I turned away and opened my wings to catch the updraft. And that's when I heard the voice. Not the rough, despising tones of the male Gargoyles, nor the sweet sound of my daughter Angela. But some feminine-yet-dangerous voice, a voice that belonged to someone I had hated long ago, and now only envied.  
  
I turned back around to face her, and indeed there she was. Elisa Maza.  
  
In the old days, those dark times of sacrilegious hatred, I would've growled and killed her on the spot. But now that things were different, I just watched her curiously, calmly, wondering what it was that the human wanted.   
  
"What is it, Elisa?" I finally spoke, shredding the tension in the air. Elisa looked at me, surprised.  
  
"Elisa?" she echoed, the amazement present in her saccharine voice. "You never called me that before."  
  
I shrugged, half out of indifference, half out of surprise at myself. Maybe Elisa and I could finally start getting along after all. It wouldn't be so difficult. After all, I HAD changed my outlook on life, and that meant changing my allies as well. I looked at her square in the face, giving her eye contact so she'd know I was not lying.  
  
"Things change, Detective. People - whether they're humans or gargoyles - change as well."  
  
Elisa's eyes got wide. I don't think she was expecting to hear that from me. Finally, at long last, she swallowed her astonishment, and gazed at me attentively.   
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Oh, come now, Detective. Surely you, with your policewoman instincts, can deduce that."   
  
Silence.  
  
I sighed, wishing I wasn't here right now. "What I meant, detective, was that after everything that has happened to me, it changed me. Repaired the angry jealousies in my hardened heart. It returned to me my personality of kindness, of love," I paused, taking a deep breath before I continued with my next words. ~Steady, Demona, steady~ I thought to myself. "Of loyalty to the clan that I had destroyed and then betrayed a long time."  
  
A look of disbelief appeared over Elisa's face. This was news to her.  
  
"What things?" She questioned doubtfully. I smiled patiently at her.  
  
"Ask my daughter. She'll tell you."  
  
"I will," Elisa promised. "But why are you here, Demona?"  
  
I smiled bitterly, and turned away again, spreading my wings, and jumped upwards, letting the wind contain me in its' grasp, carrying me where it wanted me to go. As I glided off, I looked back at the policewoman, who was still standing in the courtyard, staring up at me dubiously, and the last thing I said to her at that time was...  
  
"For my clan, human. For the chance of atonement."  
  
Well, how was it? I hope you guys liked it, especially since I'm planning to put more chapters up soon, if I get enough positive reviews. This is not the end of the story, merely the beginning! I have a lot of surprises planned for chapter 2, so keep your eyes peeled for it! Okay?  
  
Jake Denton (kingcobra49036@yahoo.com) 


	2. Goliath's Choice

Changes  
By Jake Denton (kingcobra49036@yahoo.com)  
  
CHAPTER 2 - Goliath's Choice  
  
The next evening, as soon as the sun went down, and I was home recuperating from my nightly transformation, I decided to go for a glide. It was such a beautifully luxurious night, and I was discontent. It had been a few days since I had last spoken to my love Ethan. So I headed there first.   
  
The human smiled as I dropped in through his open skylight, and greeted me affectionately, and I returned the embrace. When we separated, I looked soulfully at him. Ethan looked concerned. "What is it, my angel?" He asked worriedly. I smiled at him. What a wonderful human he was!  
  
But he knew what the situation was even before I spoke these truthfully simple words.  
  
"It's time to find out."  
  
As I touched down on the castle's courtyard again, this time accompanied by my love, I searched the premises. Predictable as always, neither Goliath or his clan, my former clan, were in sight. Perhaps they were lounged inside the boundaries of the castle itself. Ethan and I started towards the castle entrance, and went inside. I was not expecting to be re-accepted. I mean, inside my re-molded soul, I prayed to be welcomed back with my own kind, to dwell in the caring gargoyles that had been my life in Scotland a millennium ago.   
  
But I also knew that after all I had done to them, every attack, every disruption, that I would have better odds of being hit by a stroke of lightning on an extremely sunny day.   
  
I was not prepared for what I heard as I came closer to the core of the castle. Their voices came echoing down the corridor, their masculine tomes bouncing off the stone walls, and into my ears, where I could hear it all. They were having an argument. Very heated, from the indecisiveness in Goliath's voice. I also recognized the voice of Elisa, talking back to him soothingly yet firmly.   
  
I stopped walking, and listened intently. Ethan looked at me, puzzled. Gargoyle ears were sharper then human ears, so he had not yet heard the voices that lingered nearby.  
  
"Sssssshhh," I put a finger to my lips. Ethan stopped walking, and stood next to me, listening. Now that we were closer in proximity, he could hear the gargoyles conversing as well.  
  
From the distance, I could hear Brooklyn remark "Why would we want her back? Are you forgetting that on more than one occasion, she has tried to annihilate us?"  
  
That stung, but it was true. I could understand how Brooklyn felt.  
  
Elisa responded. "You don't understand. I saw her last night. It's not a scheme. Demona has really and truly changed for the better. She wants atonement."  
  
"She's faking," Brooklyn snapped, the hatred in his voice.  
  
"She's not that good of an actress."  
  
My daughter's voice, defending me. Standing by me, in the moment of what was possibly my most important mission in life. She had been betrayed by me, as well, but she did not house any hostility towards me, unlike the others.  
  
I smiled at her, even though she could not see, since I was not in the room that she was in.  
  
"The very concept of it is unthinkable," I heard Goliath rumble. "Demona has tried and failed to rejoin us many times in the past. She may perhaps have to try it a new way."  
  
He couldn't have been more wrong. And now was the time to prove it.  
  
"Wait! What are you doing?!" Ethan demanded, grabbing my arm as I started towards the sounds of the voices.  
  
I didn't look at him. "I am going to rejoin my clan." I deadpanned simply.  
  
"You go out there, and they'll kill you!"  
  
I said nothing, just yanked my arm away from Ethan angrily, and continued on. He stayed where he was, hesitant, almost afraid to meet the others. I looked at him. "You have nothing to fear from them."  
  
Ethan disagreed. "I am an ex-quarryman. I was one of their enemies. They will crucify me, for that fact." I shook my head at him. He was wrong, and I explained this to him. "I know Goliath well enough," I told him. "He will not harbor a grudge over what you used to be. Besides, he would never hurt an innocent human."  
  
Ethan still refused to budge. I snorted at him.  
  
"Come with me, if you wish, Stay here, if you desire it. It is your prerogative." I walked away towards the others, and left him behind.   
  
As I entered the room, the others looked up and saw me. Brooklyn's eyes burned almost instantly. "Demona!" he growled. I smiled at him, very friendly.  
  
"Hello, Brooklyn," I greeted warmly. His glare faded somewhat in surprise, but did not leave his face. I stepped over to Goliath, and looked him in the face. "My former love."  
  
Goliath nodded, more out of aggravation then respect. "My former angel."  
  
I turned away from him, and faced the others. "I have something to say,' I began, ignoring the looks of suspicion that were cast in my direction. "Long ago, all of you were granite. Stone figures that had no life in you whatsoever. I was alone. Completely living in solitude. As time went on, I fell afoul of sorcery that changed my life forever, for it made me stronger. It made me immortal."  
  
"We heard the sob story before," Brooklyn interrupted. "What's your game this time?"  
  
"No game. No schemes. No lies. I've spent the last thousand and five years alone. I grow weary of it. I grow weary of the fugitive life. It is time to take my place amongst you once again. I ask you all to forget what I have done in the past, and to look inside yourselves, and judge the honest truth of my words. For we are still gargoyles, evil or not, betrayed or betrayer, forgiven or not, and we are all that is left of our kind. It would be a sin to spend the rest of my days alone, with no contact with my daughter, the only reminder of my days here, before you were stone figures for an entire millennium. I wish to rejoin you all, to prove myself, to redeem myself," I paused. "To better myself, from what I used to be."  
  
No one spoke. Goliath looked uncertain.  
  
"How do we know that you have reformed?" he questioned. "What proof do you bring that you have changed forever?"  
  
"She brought me."  
  
Everyone looked up to see Ethan, standing there, almost defiantly.   
  
I smiled at Goliath, who returned his gaze to me. "You see, goliath, in the old days, you know very well that I despised humans, that I hunted them, that I longed for the stench of human corpses to enrich the planet. But I am no longer hateful towards humanity." I looked at Ethan, and took his arm. "This is my proof, for in him I have finally discovered that not all humanity is evil, that not all humans would destroy us." I lifted my gaze to Ethan's. "For in him, I have found a true mate."  
  
Everyone looked stunned at that, even Brooklyn. For a long time, everyone watched us. Goliath's voice finally broke the silence in the distilled air.  
  
"Give us a moment to confer about this." He drew the rest of the clan in a huddle, a quiet group discussion about the choice that had laid itself intravenously before them. Finally, after several minutes of whispering, they all turned back to face me, and Goliath extended his claws toward me.  
  
"Welcome back to our clan, Demona."  
  
At that very second, my heart leaped. At last! The moment I had waited for! I was reunited with my clan! I was with my loved ones once again! I took Goliath's talon, and shook it. Goliath swerved it in Ethan's direction.   
  
"You are in our clan, as well, human. Demona has chosen you for a mate, and I know full well that humans and Gargoyles must live side by side. Accepting another human as one of us is the next step. Welcome."  
  
Ethan smiled warmly, and gripped the purple talon tightly, shaking it.  
  
I smiled. At long last I had someone to care for, and I was back with my clan. My family. Brooklyn, I knew, would have a problem with it, but I knew over time, if I played my cards right, he would change his mind about me, as would Lexington and Broadway, all of whom kept staring at me suspiciously, waiting for me to make the wrong move.  
  
But it would never happen again. Not with me.  
  
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER...Demona and Ethan are welcomed back in the clan, but when something no one could have predicted happens, what will the Wyvern Clan do about it? And what does it have to do with Titania? Find out in the exciting installment of "Changes" 


	3. The Surprise

Chapter 3: The Surprise  
By Jake Denton (kingcobra49036@yahoo.com)  
  
Manhattan, New York  
May 26th, 2002  
3:59 AM  
  
They glided above the city, wings flapping, hand in hand. Somehow, he found that he did not wings to be with her, up here so high, so distant in the altitude. This suited him just fine...  
***********************************************************************  
In the darkest hours of the night, deep in the uptown metropolitan area of Manhattan Island, in the building overlooking a the busy streets below, he slept soundly, his low melancholy snores echoing radiantly off the white walls of his plush apartment. He was asleep, deep in a state of unconsciousness that nothing could even come near to awakening him.  
And he was dreaming soundly, the images in his pleasant vision dancing in his comatose mentality, the long dormant of his suppressed desires coming true in his very psyche. Deep in his dreaming state, the human smiled, pleasurably, as his love teased with him, spending a night gliding over the town, seeing all the sights. Formerly, his mate would not have desired sightseeing, but now that she had converted her lifestyle of choice, the gargoyle was delighted by everything she saw. He could hear the words spoken as though what he was dreaming was actually happening.  
********************************************************************************  
"Oh, Ethan, this city is beautiful..."  
In his repressed state, Ethan Mueller smiled convectively. "You're beautiful, Demona..."  
She smiled at him, warmly, as they flew. Ethan could barely speak as the light in her eyes shone a thousand unspoken expressions. The human male nodded nervously at his mate. "Do you want to go to the Eyrie?" he inquired, curious. The flame-haired gargoyle took a moment to think, gazing attentively at the closest skyscraper. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she focused back on him.  
"No. Perhaps later."  
Ethan shrugged. "Okay. Later, then." He looked away, staring as the buildings swept by him rapidly, still cupping Demona's hand as he soared. He was suddenly struck by the thought that this must have been how Peter Pan felt when he flew. That is, it would have if the character wasn't fictitious. Ethan found chuckling at this. Demona noticed.  
"What is so funny?"  
Ethan's humor faded and he looked at her solemnly. "Absolutely nothing. Just thinking, that's all."  
"What about?"  
They landed, and Ethan let go of her hand, looking her in the eyes. "Isn't it amazing how much of our lives have changed lately?" Demona looked back at him, not knowing what to say. She simply smiled a smile, a smile of kindness and devotion, that must've felt strange to her.  
"Things HAVE changed, my love. I've lost my rage, I've regained my clan." She reached and gently nursed his cheek with her hand. "I've gained a true love that would never hurt me."  
Instead of responding calmly, Ethan looked upset.   
"Ethan, what is it?"  
"You're immortal," he stated flatly. The azure gargoyle glared at him, not quite following him. She spoke hesitantly. "So? What does that have to do with us?"  
"You're immortal, Demona," he echoed, his voice expressing the worry he felt. "You'll live forever. What are you going to do when one day you wake up and I'm lying next to you, stiff and stone cold like your rookery siblings were that night at Wyvern a millennium ago?"  
Demona looked at him in the eyes. "I...do not know."  
Ethan sighed. Suddenly something, some force from within that the human would never be able to explain, seemed to grab him and hold him there, his eyes boring into those of his mates. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. He could only there stiffly, staring into eyes that suddenly seemed so unfamiliar.  
"Listen to me," Demona intoned. Ethan thought he had no choice.  
The gargress closed her eyes, and, in a strangely soothing voice that was not hers, began to chant.  
"Flesh born of human origin  
doomed to live and die,  
now that you will defy.  
Human shape, be one with power  
And great endeavor.  
Ethan Mueller, may you live now  
And grow old never.  
Through these words of mine,  
Your youth will remain until the end of time.  
Through this form, this command  
I command thee, be thine never an old man."  
*****************************************************************************************  
Waking up violently, Ethan gasped in surprise and abject fear. Slowly, reality coming back to him, the human male looked around feverishly at his surroundings. The dream vanished, fading away rapidly, and Ethan buried his head in his hands. This had been the first time he had had a dream like that, a vision that left him full of terror.   
He felt another emotion as well. But what was it?   
He didn't know.  
Clambering out of his bed almost drunkenly, Ethan strolled to the bathroom, and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He regretted doing so almost instantly. The face staring back at him was of someone who looked haunted, rigid, almost jumpy. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was disheveled. Ethan thought with some amusement that he had definitely seen better days.  
It was this perspective that made him recall his dream, how real it had been how lifelike. It had almost been more like a psychic experience then a dream. Was what he had just witnessed been something of importance in the world of the waking?  
~That's impossible,~ Ethan thought somberly. ~You're getting to be like that guy on TV. That psychic. What was his name?~ Ethan frowned, trying to recall the man's name. He had heard it on a showing of the program late one night, but he had forgotten it. Now it came back to him like a flash of lightning striking suddenly in the dark sky. ~That's right! It was John Edward!~  
Looking away from his grave-stricken likeness, Ethan decided he had enough of this foolishness and, after showering, got dressed, and went to work.  
"And you are off-centered by this mysterious dream?" Goliath questioned him later that night, after he had gotten off work and went straight to the Eyrie building. "You are not at all certain of the validity of this experience?"  
"No," Ethan answered, his voice like steel. "I am not. For all I know, it could just be a typical dream."   
"One that you've had for almost two weeks now, ever since you were welcomed into our clan," Brooklyn muttered, in a "something is wrong" tone of voice. Ethan nodded at him agreeably. Goliath looked thoughtful.  
"It is possible that you are having what the humans call an "extrasensory psychological vision." Elisa smirked, surprised, at her lover.  
"I didn't know you knew about such things, Goliath."  
The large male glanced at her, distracted by his thoughts concerning this bizarre matter. "Hudson is not the only one to watch TV when it gets dull, Elisa." He intoned mechanically.  
The policewoman, not knowing quite how to respond under these circumstances, simply shrugged, and looked away. The clan leader reverted his attention span back to the quarryman turned Gargoyle sympathizer. "What else happened in the dream?" He questioned dryly.  
"I...don't know," he admitted, lying through his teeth. He hated to lie to his new friends, but he did not want to put them off by telling them about the odd chant in his dreams. Doing so would very possibly be costly, and he did not want to take that chance.   
Throughout this entire debate, Demona stared at her love, worried. She and Ethan had only known each other for a month now, and yet she felt as she had known his entire life. The gargress could tell when he was hiding something, shielding some section of the truth from his clan. But what was it? What was so terrible that he would hide it from the clan like this? Or from her? Demona had no clue, no real rationalization to this held-back secret, whatever it was, but she decided that that night she would stay with him, and they would talk.  
She felt certain that whatever he was hiding, she would drag it out of him...  
Later that night, when Ethan had driven himself home, Demona, perched on the roof of some jewelry store, watched his vehicle disappear down the main street of the city, and flared her wings, leaping off the tall structure, and headed in his direction. She was going to go to his house, and try to help him come to terms with what was going on, whatever the hell it was. He needed a friend right now, and Demona knew deep inside that she was the best person to talk to him right now.   
She followed...  
***********************************************************************************************  
Ethan sighed miserably as he drove. His instincts had convinced him that holding back information from his clan had been the right thing to do, the vital thing. But his heart had eternally damned him for it. The ex-quarryman had no idea which he should listen to: his instincts, which had helped him survive this city his entire life, or his heart, which had never steered him wrong? He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the red light above change to green until the angry driver behind him blared a horn.  
"Keep moving, retard!" The man shouted. "I've got things to do!"  
~Gonna have to remember to kick his ass later,~ Ethan mused, forcing an amused grin away from the surface of his face. There was no time for cheap thrills at the expense of another motorist. Besides, the old Ethan Mueller, the part of him that LOVED hurting and attacking others, was long dead and gone. In fact, the old Ethan seemed almost like a twin brother that, upon meeting the gargoyles and befriending them, had become stillborn almost instantly.  
Thinking that way brought Ethan's mind back to the events of the day, and he sighed again, his shoulders in silent misery as he turned down the road that led towards his building. He would have a good rest after the long day he had had, and maybe he would re-visit the clan after work tomorrow. Parking the car, Ethan got out and stepped lightly, almost gliding, onto the sidewalk. He was almost to his apartment door, key in his hand, ready to retire for the night, when someone touched his shoulder.  
Ethan gave a start and spun around, expecting an attacker.  
But it was only Demona. His love.  
"Ethan..." she bit her lip, hesitatingly. "Could we converse?"  
Ethan opened his door, allowing her to walk in first, before he followed her, shutting the door behind him.  
As soon as she was seated comfortably in his sofa, Demona shifted her curious gaze at her mate. "Ethan, what is going on?" He looked startled be her question, but quickly tried to look innocent.  
"What do you mean?"  
She sighed. Why was he playing this game? She knew as well as he did he was keeping something hidden from her, from Goliath, from the entire clan. She made her response straight and simple. Demona shot from the hip. "You deliberately left some parts out in your conversation with Goliath."   
Ethan's shoulders slumped. He had been afraid of this topic from rising. Now it had, and he could do nothing but be straightforwardly honest with her. "Demona, I...I..."  
"You're what?" Demona inquired, suddenly afraid of what he might say.  
"I'm immortal."  
  
NEXT TIME ON "CHANGES":   
  
"Immortal?" Demona whispered, almost breathlessly in the darkness. "How is that possible?"  
Ethan sighed, mentally kicking himself for his cowardly behavior. "I don't know. It just happened in my dream."  
"What did?"  
He swallowed before continuing with his next words. "Demona, in the dream, I was with you. We were hanging out, having fun. Suddenly, you just chanted something...odd. I can't remember what it was, but when I woke up, I felt like somebody had scared the crap out of me. This morning, before work, I was getting into my car, and a guy had tried to rob me outside of my car."  
Demona kept her eyes trained on him. "Go on."  
"When I told him I had no money, he became merciless. Insane, almost. He slashed my throat with a large knife he had, and ran off. I felt so certain I was going to die. There was so much blood."   
Demona looked sickened, but implored him to continue.  
"I think I DID die, in a sense, but then I came to, and there was no blood. I mean, yes, there was blood. On the street, and some on my car. The wound had rapidly healed as well. I know. I checked in the rearview mirror. What should have been a nasty slit from ear to ear was nothing more then a small scratch. Like a scar."  
"But that's impossible," Demona breathed.  
"I know it is, but Demona... After that happened, I keep thinking that absolutely nothing can kill me now..."  
  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I also hope you will love the upcoming chapter 4. I don't have a name for it yet, but rest assured, it will have a lot more surprises! Stay tuned!  
  
kingcobra49036@yahoo.com 


	4. Things will take a turn for the unexpect...

PREVIOUSLY ON "GARGOYLES":  
  
As soon as she was seated comfortably in his sofa, Demona shifted her curious gaze at her mate. "Ethan, what is going on?" He looked startled by her question, but quickly tried to look innocent.  
"What do you mean?"  
She sighed. Why was he playing this game? She knew as well as he did he was keeping something hidden from her, from Goliath, from the entire clan. She made her response straight and simple. Demona shot from the hip. "You deliberately left some parts out in your conversation with Goliath."  
Ethan's shoulders slumped. He had been afraid of this topic from rising. Now it had, and he could do nothing but be straightforwardly honest with her. "Demona, I....I...."  
"You're what?" Demona inquired, suddenly afraid of what he might say.  
"I'm immortal."  
  
-Changes, chapter 3, "The Surprise"  
  
Chapter 4: Things will take a turn for the unexpected.  
  
Castle Wyvern  
Manhattan, New York  
2002  
  
Brooklyn watched, emotionless, as his leader paced, his grape-jelly colored hands behind his muscular shaped back. Goliath was fuming through his teeth, as the young warrior knew well, and a lot of it was dealt with in regards to that human mate of Demona's, the human male named Ethan Mueller.  
  
Goliath growled softly, lost in retrospective thought, as he flashed back to the conversation he and the young human had had earlier this evening. The human had clearly been lying about the circumstances of his unnerving dream, and even the mighty Goliath could not use his will power to tear away the interpretation of the dream, unless the human allowed him to. Unless Ethan broke down and confessed and spilled the beans of every minor detail.   
  
But that was not possible, at the moment. Ethan had enough to deal with without needing the presence of an angry gargoyle added to it. Maybe Demona could find a way to reason with him.  
  
He hoped...  
************************************************************************  
"Immortal?" Demona gasped, almost breathlessly in the darkness. "How is that possible?'  
  
Ethan sighed, mentally kicking himself for his cowardly behavior. "I don't know. It just happened in my dream."  
  
He swallowed before continuing with his next words. "Demona, in the dream, I was with you. W were hanging out, having fun. Suddenly, you just chanted something...odd. I can't remember what it was, but when I woke up, if felt like somebody had scared the crap out of me. This morning, before work, I was getting into my car, and a guy had tried to rob me outside of my car.  
  
Demona kept her eyes trained on him. "Go on."  
  
"When I told him I had no money, he became merciless. Insane, almost. He slashed my throat with a large knife he had, and ran off. I felt so certain I was going to die. There was so much blood."  
  
Demona looked sickened, but implored him to continue.  
  
"I think I DID die, in a sense, but then I came to, and there was no blood. I mean, yes, there was blood. On the street, and some on my car. The wound had rapidly healed as well. I know. I checked in the rearview mirror. What should have been a nasty slit from ear to ear was nothing more then a small scratch. Like a scar."  
  
"But that's impossible," Demona breathed.  
  
"I know it is, but Demona... After that happened, I keep thinking that absolutely nothing can kill me now..."  
  
Demona could believe her love's words. If what he was saying was true, then that meant all the worries she'd had when beginning this relationship, that gnawing knowledge that she would outlive her mate, and end up all alone again, it would no longer be an issue. A complication. Ethan would live forever.  
  
It was with this thought that she flung into her love's arms and hugged him, unable to contain the fierce joy she felt. When at last they separated, she peered into his soul blazing eyes questioningly.  
  
"Do you want to tell the others now?"  
************************************************************************  
Goliath had stopped pacing minutes ago, after Demona and Ethan had returned, confessing everything, and he was now resigned to reclining in a large comfortable chair in the library, a book opened in his lap, but his eyes not staring at the pages. They were instead quite far away, in a place that was not apparent to anyone who saw what direction he was looking in. His pupils were focused, diluted.  
  
So...Ethan was immortal now, an eternal human that now existed in the same kinds of terms as MacBeth and Demona. If he couldn't die, well, it would be useful having a immortal human youth in his clan, a member that was currently used simply for espionage, a down-and-out spy that now could be reformed into something more.   
  
Goliath, sitting alone in the library, sitting in his traditional thinker's guise, sat, and thought, and pondered.  
************************************************************************   
The night, when Ethan went to sleep, he dreamed again. Nothing to do with Demona this time. Instead, he found himself floating in some mystic realm, some unknown location that almost felt as if it were brimming with magic.   
  
Suddenly, from out of the wispy veils of pink smoke that loomed all around hi, Ethan heard a soft, feminine voice speak. It was a beautiful sound, a voice of someone who was obviously a very pleasant person..  
  
But what he saw next was not a pleasant person at all.  
  
The woman stood there serenely, watching him, her jaded eyes locked into his. Ethan struggled to look away, to not stare at those eyes that almost seemed to be holding him in place, but he couldn't do it. It felt like he had tried to walk, only to discover a heavy weight and chain tied to his ankles. This was the same kind of feeling.  
  
Her mouth opened, and the strange woman, dressed in robes and clothing that seemed to be from some unknown version of royalty, spoke, her softly synchronized lips chanting something that was new to Ethan's nighttime experiences.  
  
"Collum Arbrutus gargoylis yevena tida norde"  
  
Then the dream faded away, only to be replaced by what seemed like a long sleep, engulfed in the darkness of semi-consciousness...  
************************************************************************  
Ethan groaned as he awoke, stretching his arms, and yawning as reality returned to his collective senses quickly, then he got out of his bed... and stepped on a piece of stone.  
  
Ethan's face broke into confusion. "What?" he murmured, picking up the stone and looking at it closely. It was then that he noticed that, instead of human hands, he now had large talons. Oh, dear god, this couldn't be possible...  
  
Rushing to the bathroom mirror, hoping to see an overtired human male, Ethan instead saw the reflected image of a gray-skinned, beaked creature, with large black hair tinged with red, with an impressive wing span that resembled Hudson's.   
  
Ethan Mueller, formerly a Quarrymen, and more recently, an ally to the Gargoyles, was now a gargoyle himself.  
  
"Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!"  
  
TBC.  
  
Chapter 5 should be coming soon...  
  
Send your responses to kingcobra49036@yahoo.com. 


	5. New Addition To The Clan

Changes, Chapter 5: New Addition To The Clan  
By Jake Denton (kingcobra49036@yahoo.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Okay, here's the basics that you'll see in any GARGOYLES fan fic: They do not belong to me, I am not making any profit off of this other then the enjoyment of exciting my readers with another chapter. Ethan Mueller/Kain is a fragment of my own creative imagination, and this original addition to the fictional GARGOYLES universe should NEVER be used without permission. If any one of you people out there on the World Wide Web does steal him, I swear on my grandmother's sacred grave that I will do bad things to you in my future stories.  
  
Author's Note: I am having a crappy day. If anyone wants to flame, go ahead, but be gentle about it or I will unleash the fiery hounds of hell on you to rip out your soul and shit on you as your sorry existence is reverted into the eternal pits of hellfire, where you will become a wienie roast for all eternity while Satan pokes you with his pitchfork and the demons rip out your heart and have a feast!!!! (pant pant) Okay, I'm done raving like a lunatic now.  
  
Manhattan, 2002  
  
Ethan stared at his horrifying reflection, unable to believe the physics of this incident. The human Ethan Mueller was gone, and in his place stood a monster. A Gargoyle. How was this humanly possible? One minute to be human, and the next to be something that would be alive at night, a scary-looking creature that had claws and wings? Ethan started to panic. He paced around his apartment, trying to get his screaming mind under control. What little wits he had at the moment needed to be re-gathered.   
  
~Steady, Ethan. Remain calm...~  
  
That was the key. He needed to remain as composed and cool as possible. He tried to make himself feel better by thinking about something else. Anything else. His days as a Quarryman. His job at the video store. His clan--NO NO NO NO!  
  
Everything reminded him of his current situation, because everything that he had had in his life, he knew that it was all gone. He had no family, save the other gargoyles, that would accept and love him. Being a Gargoyle, he could not have rejoined the Quarrymen. Not that he'd wanted to, anyway, though.   
  
And his job?   
  
Ethan knew that as accepted as Gargoyles were in Manhattan, his boss would not allow him to work as long as he was one of them. It would risk scaring customers, and the video store might lose business. It would not be good business management, to allow a "freak" and "monster" to serve people with videos and/or DVDs. So, he could kiss that good-bye as well.  
  
So what was there for him now?  
  
Well, there was Demona and Goliath, as well as the rest of their clan. But Ethan didn't know what they would say. How could he possibly explain his metamorphosis to a quietly distempered being like Goliath? How would the massive clan leader accept him after this? He probably wouldn't. Or, if he did, it would be with much difficulty.  
  
Ethan could not believe what his life was becoming. First Immortality, now this? Why was this happening to him? Was it because of his close link to the Manhattan Clan?  
  
He did not want to even ponder that possibility, but something hidden in his soul, almost like a sixth sense, told him yes. That was exactly the reason for his current changes. But, if that was true, then that meant there was a reason for all this. Some inevitable section of his fate that would require his newly-installed Gargoyles instincts and keen sense of warrior combat that suddenly had kicked in upon the change.  
  
Something was coming.   
  
He could feel that now, deep in his soul. Something very dangerous, an event that would change his clan forever, was on its' way. And there was not any pit stops to avert it.   
  
But, while Ethan suddenly knew this, he knew not what it was or when or why it would come. All he could feel was that a life-altering experience was coming. It was coming for him, and the rest of the clan. But that was all he knew of it. And his clan needed to be warned, so that they would be better prepared for what was about to happen.  
  
Ethan strolled quickly to his window, and hesitated. He had never flown before, at least not with his own wings. What if he fell? Then he cursed himself on his fear. He was struck by the feeling that with these wings, he would be all right.  
  
Far below, on the streets of Manhattan, hardly anyone paid vivid attention to the silhouette that leaped out the window, and soared, his wings carrying him in the direction of the Eyrie Building.  
************************************************************************  
Goliath roared, stretching his muscular frame, as his stone skin shattered and flew all over the castle tower, fragments that now littered the stone floor. Beneath him, the gargantuan warrior could hear his clan come to life, their yawning growls and cracking stone playing a melancholy in his lavender ears. Another night for him meant a new night of hope and compromises, and Goliath acknowledged this mentally as he gathered them all and they went on patrol.  
  
Flying over the city, the wind firmly holding them up in the evening atmosphere, Goliath pondered silently, still thinking of what to do about his new human charge, Ethan. What role would the youth play in his clan? Perhaps Goliath could make Ethan a spy, keeping a close eye on the Quarryman activities and reporting back to the clan with news.  
  
But he did not yet know of the extraordinary occurrences that had befallen the ex-quarrymen yet, nor did he fathom the changes that were coming.   
  
Brooklyn yanked Goliath out of his thoughts about Ethan's responsibility in the clan to ask "What is that?"  
  
Goliath looked in the direction that his second was pointing, and he could make a dark shape gliding towards them. He squinted his eyes at the gargoyle, which was too far away to make out an identification too clearly. The fact that it was nighttime and the moon was hidden behind clouds did not help matters, either.   
  
"I do not know. Perhaps it is one of the clones?"  
  
Goliath motioned to his clan to land on the nearest roof, and the stranger did likewise.   
  
Once they were all landed, Goliath peered curiously at the strange creature before him. Yes, it was one of his kind, but it was not one of the clones. This new Gargoyle seemed to be just that: New. To this area, at least. Goliath felt something familiar about this gargoyle, yet he knew they had never met before. The gray-skinned rogue looked at him, eyes peering curiously at the leader from behind his large Brooklyn-like beak, that blackish-red hair falling in his face. The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, before the newcomer spoke.  
  
"G-Goliath?"  
  
His jaw dropped in shock. How did the strange gargoyle know his name?  
  
He spoke this question aloud, and the gargoyle looked at him, a sad acceptance formulating on his face. "It's me. Ethan."  
  
Goliath narrowed his eyes, suspiciously conveying the being that was kneeling before him. "Ethan?"  
  
"It's a trick," Brooklyn's voice cut in. "One of Sevarius' doings. Or Thailog's."  
  
Demona glared at him. "Thailog could have not survived to make another gargoyle. I would know if he still lived. I destroyed him myself. As for Sevarius, I would know if he involved in any DNA splicing, remember?"   
  
Brooklyn remained silent, recalling the time that Sevarius had created the clones. The police had somehow found a link to Sevarius and he had been arrested in the aftermath of the carnival burning down, released only to the supervision of Dominique Destine to work at her company, which gave Demona, or "Dominique" full knowledge of his activities.  
  
Goliath frowned at the Gargoyle, which appeared to be physically drained. "How is this possible, Ethan?" His question mirrored Ethan's thoughts. The Gargoyle stood slowly, getting to his feet, and looking Goliath in the face as much as he could.   
  
"Ethan was human, Goliath. Since I am not human, I am no longer Ethan either." He paused. "I wish to be known as Kain."  
  
Goliath looked startled at that, and he glanced at his clanners before fixing his unblinking gaze on Kain, staring at him intently for several seconds. It was almost as if he was staring into Kain's soul, peering into his mental dwellings. Seeing into his thoughts. It creeped Kain out, but he stood his ground.  
  
Finally Goliath spoke, sounding convinced. "It is him."  
  
Kain sighed in relief as the clan fixed their eyes on him. Demona came forward, sizing his new form up, and embraced him gently, burying her forehead in his chest. "My love," she breathed. "You are one of us now."  
  
The clan spoke excited agreements, rushing forward to greet their new addition. For the moment, Ethan felt at home, truly at home, where he belonged. Then he remembered the feelings of imminent doom and he pulled away. Lex stared at him blankly, as did the others.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
There's...something I need to tell you guys about."  
  
"Speak," Goliath commanded, his voice showing the impatience that he so clearly felt.  
  
Kain paused before speaking. Where to begin? He decided being blunt was his best option.  
  
"Something is coming. Something...evil." Ethan responded. "Though I do not know what it is."  
  
The clan looked startled. But before they ask him any questions, they were interrupted by a feminine voice, the voice that had haunted Ethan's dream the night before, the voice that had made him into...this.  
  
They all turned as one and saw the woman there, her silk robes flowing as she smiled arrogantly at the bewildered Gargoyles. Kain gave a start. It was the same woman that had been in his dream two nights before, when he had turned into a Gargoyle!  
  
"Titania," Goliath whispered. Kain was amazed. Even the large Gargoyle seemed to be in awe of her. Which mean that she must've been some extremely powerful figure in their lives. Ethan/Kain wondered what the deal was.  
  
"You know her?"  
  
The queen of Avalon heard Kain's inquiry and smiled pessimistically at him. "I am called Titania, queen of the fey, ruler of the third race of the island of Avalon. You are a special one, Ethan." She paused, letting her words sink in, then added. "Kain."  
  
"How did you know my name?"  
  
Titania smiled again, but the warmth was gone. She looked at him steely, and the newly human-turned-gargoyle shuddered, am shred of fear shooting its' way across his spine like a bullet.   
  
"Because, young though you are, whichever you may be, Ethan or Kain, you are still a powerful force in this generation." She smiled craftily. "Perhaps you will still be an important element in the next as well."  
  
"Why?" Kain responded, suddenly feeling agitated, sick of this woman's mysterious riddles. So she ruled a bunch of fairies. So what? His life had been going fine until she had came in and interfered. What gave her the right to meddle in the affairs of whom used to mortal? Both mortal AND human? Absolutely nothing.  
  
"A war is coming, my youth," she answered, keeping his voice as silky as her garments. "You are a major part in this war. The live of a thousand clans will depend on you." She started to fade away. "Do not fail. For if you die, your entire species will die."  
  
"The humans?" Kain spontaneously blurted, forgetting his new body for a second.  
  
"No..." Titania looked away, hiding her guilt. Or was it disappointment? "Gargoyles. They will simply cease to be, just as the dinosaurs were several millennia ago."  
  
With that, Titania was gone, leaving Kain, Goliath, and the others to ponder what to do next...  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
(kingcobra49036@yahoo.com) 


	6. The Coming Of The End

Changes, Chapter 6: The Coming Of The End  
By King Cobra3 (kingcobra49036@yahoo.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Kain and all other original characters in this fic are mine and shouldn't be used without my consent.  
  
Warning: This installment is not so much a fic as it is a way to set up the new plot, so it's going to be awfully short, much more of a quick read them my other chapters in this saga.  
  
Scotland, 936 A.D.  
  
As the golden rays of the sun dipped, vanishing into the sheath of the horizon, the gargoyles perched on the parapets of the castle that rested atop a cliff roared to life, their stone skins flying everywhere, dangerous pieces of debris.   
  
One gargoyle, a charcoal colored female with a fiercely strict expression, glided down excitedly to the rookery, where the next generation of gargoyles eggs were supposed to have hatched. For the proud young mother, her hatchling would be born tonight, and she would show him love, and affection, while raising him to honor the traditions of old and be an example to his fellow gargoyles. She knew not what to call him, but she felt, with an odd sense of accomplishment and a slight sense of fate in this night, that she would realize his name upon first seeing her newborn kit.   
  
"Hey, Celeste!" she heard a familiar male voice call. "Where ya going?"  
  
Celeste whirled to look behind her, her flowing brown hair getting in her eyes as she did so. Wiping the strand away, the gargess smiled warmly as her mate, Omri, sailed towards her, coming in for a smooth landing on the rocky hard soil. Omri, a muscularly-shaped gargoyle, probably the strongest of the clan, stood about 7" and weighed somewhere 400 lbs, and was an important factor in Celeste's life, for she had fallen in love with the clan's second long ago. The two hugged affectionately, and then Omri repeated his question, with a knowing glint in his hazel eyes. Celeste smiled and moved her hand through the green gargoyle's jet black hair before answering "Checking upon our son."  
  
Omri chuckled, a strange sound that seemed to originate in his chest and work upwards to his mouth. "So what makes you think it's a son? Could be a daughter."  
  
"No," an unrecognizable voice from nearby interrupted Celeste before she could speak. "He will be a boy." Omri, and his slightly fearful mate, spun around to see three aged female gargoyles, one with white hair, another with black tresses, and the third sprouting a blonde mane. Something seemed strange about them, for neither male nor female gargoyle had ever seen them, and did not recall them from the clan. They were strangers.   
  
Omri cleared his throat, deciding to make his point quite clear. "How is it that you know the gender of our child when my mate and I do not even know?" The blonde gargess fixed him with a amused gaze, and opening her mouth, spoke. "We know many things, Omri of Castle Wyvern."  
  
"How did you know my name?"  
  
"Omri," Celeste chimed in, standing the tension no longer, "Who are these strangers?"  
  
"We are visionaries, here to shape the future." The cotton haired gargess interceded. Without warning, all three gargesses joined hands and, forming a circle around Omri and Celeste, began a strangely poetic chant, proclaiming the fate of the small one that belonged to the two dumbstruck gargoyles, both of whom were now spinning in the air slowly amidst pink smoke rising.  
  
"Warriors of Wyvern, parents of one,  
look and gaze upon your son  
for in his future lies hardship and pain  
fear and hurt and contempt, mixed with disdain.  
But fear not the coming years  
nor let these words stir your fears,  
for in him, there will be knowledge  
strength and wisdom from his heritage  
and with his life, he will lead  
those who in life with humans will succeed.  
He will guide them, and give them purpose,  
Even when they are deemed worthless  
And hated and despised,  
be not surprised.  
For one will show the way  
To light on a cloudy day  
And when all is lost, he will be strong,  
And only right will come out of that which is wrong.  
So raise your son, guide him well,  
For he will do well, in his life of hell."  
  
The chant ended, and the gargesses regarded Omri and Celeste solemnly. "Teach your son not to give into the ways of depression, for in him, a warrior will make his mark in history, and will be remembered for all of eternity." With that, the three vanished, and Omri, baffled, and a little afraid, looked at his wife, who had gone into the rookery and emerged, carrying her winged child. "Celeste?"  
  
"He is indeed a strong one, my love." There was astonishment mixed with pride in her voice. "He will be named Goliath."  
  
As the loving parents doted over their newborn, the demon watching nearby chuckled as he watched. It would be a long time before he could accomplish his mission, but when the time came, he would slaughter the gargoyle and doom all of his kind to the pits of hell...  
***********************************************************************************************  
Manhattan, 2002 A.D.  
  
The sun set.  
  
Instantaneously, the stone forms on Castle Wyvern's highest towers awakened, their well-rested roars shattering the night sky as they rose to meet another night in their busy lives. It would be a long night, but then, weren't all the nights long and deeply involving for the clan?  
  
"I'm still not used to the sleeping habits," Kain grumbled as he wiped away a piece of gravel from his well-built arm.   
  
"You'll adjust," Demona reacted soothingly as she placed a loving hand on his bicep. Kain smiled. "Of course I will. I can adjust to anything with you around." He cupped her chin in his hand. "And just think, we'll have eternity to share."   
  
Goliath shook the stone skin out of his eyes, then, as he stretched, trying to get the sensation of wakefulness out of his system, out of the corner of his left eye, he observed Demona, who, instead of wakening from stone sleep, changed out of her human form every night, and Kain smiling at each other, and then grabbing hands as they flew off, no doubt going for a night on the town. The rest of the clan all went separate ways to do different things tonight. Lex had gone to websurf, Brooklyn had a motorcycle movie called "Easyriders" that he had wanted to see, courtesy of Elisa and her video card. Broadway and Angela were in the library reading, and, as far as Hudson and Bronx, Goliath could only guess. Most likely enjoying "The Late Show With Conan O'Brien" elsewhere in the castle.  
  
Out of everyone in his clan, it was the two newcomers, Demona and Kain, that absorbed Goliath's thoughts the most. Kain had been a member of his clan for months now, but it hadn't been easy. Kain had once been Ethan Mueller, Quarryman. Then he had become Ethan Mueller, gargoyle sympathizer. Now he was Ethan Muller, former human-turned-gargoyle now named Kain. Goliath could get along very well with Kain, despite his background, but it was an uneasy friendship. Especially considering that he was allied (and more) with Demona, the gargess who had on countless occasion attacked the clan. Goliath trusted her as well, but it hadn't been easy in the beginning of their truce.   
  
"What's wrong?" A familiar voice cut into his thoughts. Goliath turned around, seeing Elisa, and smiled. "Nothing is wrong. Just thinking." Elisa nodded, understanding apparent on her face. "Still worried about Demona and Kain?"  
  
"How... how did you..."  
  
"I know you too well, Big Guy. I could tell you were deep in thought. What else would you be pondering about? No one else in the clan has done anything major lately." Elisa smiled and placed her hand comfortingly upon her lover's shoulder. "But you can relax, Goliath. I've seen Demona and Kain together. Trust me, he relaxes her. When they're together, she has a aura of peacefulness that she never used to have. He's changed her."   
  
Goliath nodded. He knew this, for he too had noticed the newly born spark in Demona's eyes whenever Kain was around. How her face brightened when her mate awoke at night. They were deeply infatuated with each other, and possibly more. It was because of this, and the fact that she would never be alone again until the end of time, that Goliath realized that all the hate that had haunted Demona's soul had gone at last, that his former angel of the night was finally at peace with herself and the clan as well.   
  
That little fact would have to be enough to put his misgivings at ease.   
  
Goliath smiled and scooped up Elisa, opening his wings, and they glided away into the heart of night, flying above the lights of noisy, crowded Manhattan. It was already beginning to look like a pleasurable night for them both, at her place. They would watch a movie, and then, move onto... other activities...  
  
The deity that had watching them couldn't help but grin. It was almost time. The stage would soon be set to wage his war, to destroy all the gargoyles. He almost laughed as he saw in his mind's eye Goliath's burnt, bloody corpse, screaming in pain as it slowly perished. Soon Goliath would be caught in a futile struggle for life itself.  
  
As well as his insidious clan.  
  
To Be Continued... 


	7. Down By One, Part 1

Changes, Chapter 7

Down By One

By King Cobra3 (kingcobra49036@yahoo.com)

WARNING: Language, violence.

SUMMARY: The clan is about to face off against a supernatural being, but in the end one gargoyle will die. What will happen? Who will live? Who won't? Read to the end of this trilogy to find out.

Scotland, 1985 A.D.

It was a cool night. The wind of the crisp evening air whistled through the tree branches scattered in the outlands, making an eerie sound. Crickets chirped their messages to the denizens of the night. It was a perfectly lovely night.

In the barn of one Scottish territory, a red-haired female gargoyle slept soundly, her breathing faint and calming, her eyes closed as she dreamed of far away places and a foretold danger, though she would not have known it at the time, of course.

~DEMONA~, the thing whispered to her, a dirty creature which hid in the darkness of her subconscious. Dark clouds hid his true form. Nevertheless, when Demona peered closely enough, she knew right away that this was someone, or something, from her past, but she was unable to identify this messenger. 

He spoke. ~DEMONA...~

"What do you want of me, foul thing?" she asked the thing in her dream, her voice full of quiet rage.

~YOU KNOW FULL WELL OF WHAT I WANT. IT IS THE SAME THING THAT HAS KEPT YOU RUNNING FOR CENTURIES. IT IS THE SWEET, SWEET TASTE OF VENGENCE THAT YOU LONG FOR MOST. GO TO IT. DO WHAT YOU DESIRE MOST, BUT DO NOT FORGET THAT SOMEDAY SOON, YOUR VENGENCE WILL BE MINE AS WELL.~

Demona laughed in the back of her mind. "What are you, that you presume to request such foolishness of me? I am a gargoyle, and immortal besides!"

~I KNOW COMPLETELY WHAT YOU ARE. YOU ARE CHAOS. YOU ARE THE FACTOR FROM WHICH BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED AND FEAR WILL BE IMMINENT. YOU ARE BOTH A CURSE AND A BLESSING. I CAN FEEL YOUR RAGE, AND IT... IS... NURTURING... AS WELL AS PLEASANT. AWAKEN NOW, GARGOYLE.~

And she did, sweating profusely, hearing the chilling laughter, which was somehow familiar, and sending fear down her spine.

********** 

Manhattan, 2003 A.D.

The human found himself in a dark cloud, an empty void of space where time had no existence. What was he doing here? Why was he at the castle with the other gargoyles? Looking down, he noticed his hands. His all too human hands. What the--?

Shaken with fear and caught off guard by his return to his human body, he trembled. Shaken by the sudden realization he was in human form again, he felt his hands grow cold and clammy, and his body began to tremble with fear. He was frightened, full of fear. He had gotten too used to his new body, and here he was, sucked back into his old one. It freaked him out.

That was when he saw the others. All familiar faces. Anguishing memories of his past that he thought he had locked away deep down forever. Yet here they were, as was he. Here to torment him emotionally. Re-picking old wounds all over again. 

They beckoned him. Reached for him. 

They were here to reclaim him. Everyone who had wronged him in his life. His parents, who had abused and then abandoned him. His ex-girlfriend, whom he had discovered fucking his best friend upon coming home from work early. She who had sent him to becoming an alcoholic for three months. His former boss, who had been nothing more then a raving madman. The man had beaten him harshly with his fists if he failed to live up to the company's expectations. His well-being had also been threatened numerous times, resulting in Ethan being filled with a deep dark mistrust of other humans.

They all wanted him. Shadows of his wretched past that stretched to connect with his present. The youth was petrified. 

~You can't have me!~ His mind screamed. ~None of you matter! None of you are here! You can't be here! This is only a FUCKING DREAM!~

~Oh, no, Ethan,~ came the voiceless whisper, trailing on the wind like autumn leaves, the quiet fear and hatred recognizable to the former human who was now a gargoyle. ~We are quite real.~ The old mental stress that had plagued Ethan Mueller for years before becoming dormant rose back up to the surface, and he whimpered in anguish. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't! 

Tears ran down his cheeks as he felt like his soul was being ripped apart by this assault, this return of past worries. Quite suddenly, his sadness became fierce anger.

Ethan roared, his human eyes suddenly flashing bright spools of nuclear-powered white light. He charged his old demons, ripping them apart with his now taloned hands. He was slowly turning back into a gargoyle, and he used that to his advantage, clawing his old scars apart. They vanished like mists of smoke with each attack, until there was nothing left. No one there but the gray gargoyle who was down on his knees, panting for air, the sense of exhaustion racing through him. 

Kain got up slowly, breathing heavily as he tried to get himself under control. This was a dream, that's all. A terrible nightmare that would end the second the sunlight did. 

Feeling suddenly that something was wrong, Kain looked down and saw himself back in the Quarrymen uniform, which oddly enough was not affected by his massive wings, and his misshapen feet. In his hands was a quarryhammer, activated and ready for usage. Kain couldn't handle this dream anymore.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

**********

Kain broke out of his stone shell with a petrified scream. His terror at being a quarryman again, the fear of being a threat against those he loved, washed out of his dream and into his conscious state. He dropped to his knees in emotional exhaustion. The others, all minus Demona whom were also breaking off gravel, noticed this. The flame haired gargess saw her mate's anguish, and she asked worriedly, "My love, is something wrong?" Kain was shaking too hard from fear and bewilderment to answer her. 

Noticing his charge's anguish, Goliath leaped over to Kain's perch, where he proceeded to place a comforting hand on his distraught friend's shoulder. Complete shock was on Kain's face. The clan leader became extremely concerned for the new one's well-being.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Kain lied, hoping that Goliath would believe it. "Just nightmares from... well, you know, my days as a Quarryman." That edge, the tone of voice that appeared whenever Kain wasn't telling the truth, came out, and he hoped Goliath wasn't able to tell. 

Goliath COULD see that he was lying, though. Kain, since joining the clan, had been composed and laid-back in every crisis. Keeping a clear head in any situation. Nothing ever bothered Kain, but tonight the clan leader could easily recognize the signs of deceit. Namely, that seriously casual "maybe he won't know I'm lying" factor in Kain's voice at this moment. 

Goliath debated silently, trying to decide whether to carry the point further, then saw no need for such continued arguments. "Very well, then," The clan's leader rumbled, moving comfortingly but swiftly away from Kain's side, leaving the gray creature to his recovery, allowing Kain's shattered nerves to soothe. Goliath then faced the rest of the clan, most of whom were shooting pitied expressions of Kain's quaking form. 

"The city has been out of control lately. Perhaps it is best that we go on patrol," the large purple behemoth commanded, keeping his voice as deeply leveled as normal. Goliath was questioning about Kain's current status, but chose to keep it buried until he could talk with the youth later that evening, perhaps after they all returned safely.

Demona watched, and waited, as Goliath flew off with the others on patrol. She and Kain were the only ones left at the castle, with the obvious exception of Bronx, who had curled up on the tower's stony floor and went to sleep. The flame-haired former she-devil looked at her mate. "Now, once again... What is wrong?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"What makes you say that?" Demona asked, and there was a definite challenge to her tone right then. "The ego of the human male?"

Kain grinned, still a little panicked but recovering. "Something like that, yeah."

"Don't play games with me, Ethan. I do not enjoy being toyed with." Demona's old scowl, the unfriendly glare of hatred left over from her days of old, and the gray gargoyle smirked arrogantly.

Kain glanced at her casually, his edgy mood returning. "So I see. What the clan has told me about you was all true. You DO have a bad temper." 

Demona's eyes flared that usual reddish tint and Kain flinched, afraid she'd claw his eyes out right then and there. But she decided not to. Without a warning, without say one word to her mate, Demona turned and leaped off the tower, opening her wings, and flew away. Kain could tell she had a lot to think about right now, a lot to be remorseful over, and it was his fault. Sure, he'd had a restless sleep, but why did he rub it in his love's face? 

It was hard enough for her to completely redeem her past actions without her mate bringing it up. He sighed, feeling ashamed. He began wondering if it was too late for an apology. Kain wondered if apologizing for his bluntness would heal her hurt right now.

Listening to her fierce warrior's scream as she glided into the distance, Kain wondered if things would ever be the same again between him and the gargoyle of his dreams.

**********

He sat silently, his long blue tinted legs dangling out on the edge of the tower, his clawed toes high above the city below. Broadway had a lot on his mind right now, and for once, it wasn't about food. The big gargoyle was concerned about the status of the clan. So much had happened lately, all of it involving Demona and Kain. Demona reforming. Kain, an ex Qiarryman, joining the clan. Then Kain's metamorphosis, both physically and mentally. His transformation into a gargoyle, and his newly-cast life of immortality, which hadn't been a hoax. 

The other night, the Quarryman had attacked the gargoyles on their patrol, forcing them by helicopter into a small alley in the middle of town, where the hooded bigots had attacked physically, shooting those laser guns at Lex and Angela, knocking them both out in the process. 

Kain had fought alongside Brooklyn and Hudson. Broadway had seen a quarryman sneak up on Kain and whacked him on the back of the head with the quarryhammer, knocking Kain to the ground and spilling his brains out of his ears, before Goliath and Demona had ambushed the quarryman, knocking him out. Then they had checked Kain over, searching for signs for life. Goliath had looked up a few seconds later and had declared that Kain had no pulse. No heartbeat. 

Thinking back to that night, Broadway recalled the surprise he had felt when Kain had simply gotten to his feet, still alive, but a glazed look in his eye. The brains had disappeared from the ground, almost by magic. Everyone had seemed stunned when they realized that a "dead" gargoyle was still alive and that there wasn't even any blood upon him. No apparent injuries, either. 

The only thing that had befallen Kain was dizziness. Obviously, that must've been part of Titania's immortality spell she had placed upon Kain in his dreams, to be hurt badly to the brink of death and still survive in one piece, with no apparent pain whatsoever.

Then, there was Demona. The former evil gargoyle and her so-called "reawakening". She claimed that she was back on their side again, but the rotund gargoyle still had a habit every night of wondering what evil scheme the she-devil was plotting. Then he would remember that she was "good". However, given what had happened in the past, he still did not trust Demona. Not even five percent of him believed that she had fully changed. 

Broadway had spent every moment, of every night, waiting for her to snap. When she hadn't by sundown, he usually shrugged to himself inwardly and vowed silently to spend the next evening watching her every move. After a while, however, that got to be redundant.

Plus that would've made Angela, his mate, suspicious. The last thing Broadway wanted to do was jeopardize his relationship with the most beautiful gargoyle in the world because he didn't trust her mother. He knew that Angela adored Demona, if only in the maternal sense, and if he openly berated Demona, his future with her would be put on the backburner. Angela would probably decide to back out of their relationship and chase one of the others, which he did not want to have to suffer through. 

Maybe she would pick Brooklyn, since he was probably the second best choice. Lex was too much a computer nut to suit Angie's tastes and would probably have bored her senselessly, jabbering about anti-virus firewalls and electronic mail. Brooklyn was a tactful fighter, smart, wise, and ruthless. He could see the line from beginning to end when analyzing a plan, and he was Angela's intellectual match. 

It was because of all this that Broadway did not challenge Demona. He did not want to lose the great thing he had going with Angela. So he kept his opinions closed inward.

Thinking these pondering perspectives, he found himself torn out of his thoughts by a hand slinking itself onto his shoulder, and he whipped around, prepared to fight any enemy that would threaten him at this moment, but relaxed and smiled warmly when he saw who his companion was. 

"Hey, Angie. Lovely evening, isn't it?"

She sat on her haunches next to him, staring at the dark, distant horizon of Manhattan. From way up there one can see, provided that they had a good pair of binoculars, all the way to the shores of Ontario, Canada. "It is beautiful." Angela smiled at her mate.

Broadway looked at her just in time to see that smile, that lovely serene expression that he always made him flutter deep down in his soul, fade away, replaced by an expression of curiosity. "What's wrong?"

Broadway shrugged. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Stuff," was all Broadway said. Angela waited for a few seconds, hoping he would say more. When he didn't, she sighed, annoyed slightly, and touched his hand gently. 

"Let me guess. You're worried about my mother. Am I right?"

"Not at all," her mate lied, that tone of his voice giving away that she was indeed right. Angela sighed again and looked at him sternly. She didn't believe him. She knew he had just lied to her.

"Look, Broadway, it's not an act, okay? My mother is really and truly a good guy now. You don't have to be suspicious of her. She'll never hurt you, or me, or any of the others ever again."

"I wish I could be sure of that." Broadway mumbled, sounding absolutely adamant. "After all the things that that bitch has put us through, why shouldn't I be weary of her presence?"

Angela glared at him, suddenly hating him for doubting her mother. This was her mate, and she loved him, but she occasionally wondered what she saw in him. Yes, he had a nice heart and was a kind person, but when he questioned her judgment, about trusting Demona, she just got a little agitated with him, as she would with any of the others if any of them ever spoke trash about her mother.

"So what are you saying? That she doesn't deserve to be trusted?!"

"That's now what I meant," was his response. Angela could literally hear Broadway's heart breaking, but she didn't care. She was too pissed. "Broadway, she was evil because she spent hundreds of years by herself! Do you know what that's like, to be all alone, knowing that no one will ever care? No, of course not!"

She took a quick breath and continued, bitterly. "You were stone cold for ten centuries. How could YOU know what an eternity of solitude would be like? For a long time, her loneliness fueled her rage, gave her reason to hate us. Because we all had each other, and she had nobody. Her lonely existence gave her motive to hurt and kill." Her voice rose sharply, and Broadway just stared at the city uncomfortably, not looking at her. "But now she has us! Now she's not alone, and you still think she hates us?!" Angela's eyes flared that hellish crimson. "You'd better change your opinion, my love, or YOU may end up with no one to care for you."

"I'm sorry, but it's just – she's been such a bitch to us for so long, it's hard to admit, een to myself, that she's different now, that's all."

"Watch it, Broadway," her voice was steely, and it briefly reminded him of Demona's voice, from the old days, whenever an evil plan went sour. He flinched at how hostile Angela sounded, how defensive, and then decided that she had a right to be. After all, good or evil, ally or enemy, Demona was still Angela's mother, and nothing would ever change that. Broadway knew that what he had just said had pissed off his mate badly, and he sighed, defeated in this argument.

"Sorry."

"You're forgiven," Angela's voice softened and she gave him a peacefully content smile. Broadway smiled back for a second, and then looked down into the city below. From way up there, he could hear the usual city noise, such as the human cars honking their horns, and it made him think more. 

Perhaps Demona really was changed. This might not be a trick, after all. Broadway thought back, and then realized something. When Demona had been a traitor, she had been angry, quick-tempered. But lately, with the ever comforting presence of Kain and the others around her, she hadn't even raised her voice at anyone for any reason in a long time. Now, she was more relaxed, more at home with her clan. Happy.

If she wasn't happy, the clan would've been dust and rubble long ago, smashed to pieces by her. But she had never laid a finger against them in their stone sleep, hadn't smashed them. Broadway knew that the old Demona would not have been so merciful, so hesitant to destroy them. 

He knew right then that Angela was right. Demona was no longer their adversary.

"Maybe you're right, Angie," he whispered, almost unable to get the words out. She glanced at him, waiting, expecting, hoping for him to keep talking. "You're right. Demona is on our side now. She's one of us, no matter what she's done in the past. What's done is done. We can't change that. But... maybe... I can learn to trust her again." 

Broadway looked to see her reaction. Angela's face lit up with joy, and she kissed him.

**********

The sun rose several hours later, turning her clan into concrete statues, and reducing Demona into that frail human she lovingly referred to as Dominique Destine. She had the day off from work, and was reclined in her living quarters of the castle, established by Xanatos after her return to the clan, sleeping soundly in her bed. Her gentle breathing was interrupted only by the sounds of her disturbed sleep.

"No... I can't... not again..."

**********

She was back in that depressing blackness. The darkness hid the shadow well enough, but she could hear him, or her, or it, well enough. It called out to her, the demons of her past reaching out to stain the peace of her present existence with its' twisted evil.

~DEMONA. KILL THEM ALL...~

"No," she whispered, trying in vain to block out the twisted, decayed voice of this foul monstrosity, trying not to hear it, attempting futilely to wish it away. It didn't work. The creature was still there, and nothing would drive it away.

~DESTROY YOUR CLAN, FOR THEY DESPISE YOU. GIVEN THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES, THEY WOULD NOT HESITATE TO BETRAY YOU. TO MAKE YOU SUFFER THE SAME WAY YOU'VE MADE THEM SUFFER.~ 

"No... it's not true... it couldn't be true... You lie..."

The thing laughed. ~HEH HEH HEH. DO I?~

And then it was gone.

**********

Dominqie awoke swiftly, her head throbbing in pain. Apparently, she had been so distressed by her vision, it had given her a migraine in her sleep. The woman went into her bathroom, filling a Dixie cup with the sinks' water and downing it along with two advils. She leaned against the sink, staring at her haggard reflection. Her scalp was flat-haired and sticking all over the place, as though she had stuck her finger into an electrical socket while standing in a pool of water. Her face was even worse. Her eyes looked bloodshot, and she had bags under her eyes.

"Good things the girls at work can't see me now..." She said to the empty air of the room.

That actually struck her as funny, and she chuckled for a few seconds. Her laughter faded quickly, though, giving way to a frown, as the memory of her dream flooded back, and Demona felt a keen sense of danger approaching. Something evil was coming, and she knew it would change her and her clan forever.

Was that what the dream had been all about? Was it a forewarning, a vision from her subconscious, intended to help her avert this evil? No, that was impossible.

But if it wasn't possible, why did she still feel unease?

**********

He smiled sadistically, putting the plan together in his foul mind as he observed the events unfolding before him. The demon and her mate in rage, the dreams he had orchestrated taking their tolls on both of them. The demon and the gray one were vital to his plans. It would not be long now.

He was ecstatic. The clan thought that things were bad now? They had no idea of what was about to befall them. Just wait. The suffering they would endure at his hands would make the fights seem pleasant by comparison. Their world was about to collapse. 

He laughed sinisterly. It was almost time...

To Be Continued...

Coming Soon: Changes 8.


End file.
